The present invention is based in part on technology disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,154,440 ('440 patent). The '440 patent describes a mobile software system for a variety of operations before, during, and after a disaster. The '440 patent further disclosed systems that provided a mechanism which can be used in a variety of emergency management operations. One area not addressed was the need for rapid, massive registration, credentialing, and badge identification of large numbers of personnel, especially following a disaster. Responders, residents, and business owners, plus their employees, all need access to restricted areas. The National Response Framework even mandates such badging, yet no viable, fast, simple, inexpensive, and high capacity system is available. Up until now, plastic badges or temporary paper badges have been the norm. The cost of badge supplies, printers, labor, on site power, and wasted time preparing such items in the chaotic times following a disaster are replaced and/or augmented by the present systems, methods, and device. With the new “virtual” badging system described herein, having web based registration from areas remote from the restricted area as well as a mobile device-based “virtual badge,” the present invention provides more rapid and efficient, mass implementation of identification mechanisms for multiple uses, including but not limited to law enforcement and security purposes. Combining background check options and the features of the prior claims allows for more widespread uses, in which the data can ultimately be used in either separate private networks, wider, shared cloud-based data systems, or can be merged and/or accessed at times of emergencies or disasters with public data systems for life safety and security purposes.
The present invention further describes a workflow management system designed to badge and also monitor and track mobile users, if desired. By providing administrators with the ability to send alerts and tasks to their badge users, as well as allowing users to send notes, forms, photos, and events to each other and/or a central server, the virtual badge system in accordance with the present invention can be used to efficiently manage personnel. While the present invention finds countless uses in the disaster and emergency management arenas, other non-emergency applications are contemplated and described herein.
The present invention uses the electronic identification as part of a system that can be configured to function in a variety of emergency and non-emergency operations, preferably using smart electronic devices. The present invention can be adapted to merge the dumb phones with smart phones and/or other mobile smart electronic devices into a system designed to not only work on both types of phones, but also allow for computers and/or smart phones to map and track mixed teams of virtual badge users. The virtual badge electronic identification system and devices are further designed to work regardless of the condition of the local power, cell, and Internet infrastructure—a needed requirement in the emergency management field.